“Snatch?”
Li Feng’s heart tightened.
At that moment, he suddenly thought of something. When he had just wiped out the Black Stone Gang, Song Zhiyuan still believed he held an invitation to the Boxing King Tournament and tried every possible way to get that invitation from him.
Back then, because Li Feng did not understand the Boxing King Tournament, he thought Song Zhiyuan wanted to participate out of personal interest. But now that he knew the tournament was held to fight for the Nine Dragon Jade, and all major forces wanted to join, why did Song Zhiyuan still want his invitation? As a representative of the Song family, could it be that Song Zhiyuan had not received an invitation himself?
If it were other forces, that might make sense. But the Song family was one of the eight top families and a dominant existence in southern China. Why did the organisers of this Boxing King Tournament not send an invitation to the Song family? Was it deliberate, or was there another reason?
If it was deliberate, judging from what Nangong Wu had just said, could this be encouragement to snatch it?
“Yes, exactly, snatch it. This time the Boxing King Tournament has only one hundred and eight invitations, but there are countless forces in the world, both overt and covert. If anyone wants the Nine Dragon Jade, they must enter the tournament. Without an invitation, the only way is to rob one. So you can imagine what it will be like when those forces start seizing them.” Nangong Wu nodded and said.
“That really means rivers of blood.” Li Feng sucked in a cold breath. He thought of the Black Stone Gang. It was merely an underground force in Tianhai City. Such small forces were countless even in China, let alone the world. Yet somehow this level of power actually possessed an invitation to the Boxing King Tournament.
All of a sudden, a bold guess formed in Li Feng’s mind. Could it be that the one hundred and eight invitations held by the organisers were not given to the major forces at all, but scattered randomly to some powers, precisely so that people would fight and rob each other?
If that was truly the case, then did Li Wu, Qin Feng, Ying Suyan and the other representatives of the eight top families have invitations? Did Ge Feng, Murong Kang and the others from the twelve great families have invitations? Exactly whose hands held these invitations?
Li Feng also realised that Li Wu was currently in his possession. If others believed Li Wu had an invitation, would they then assume the invitation was now with him and come after him?
At this thought, Li Feng’s gaze sharpened. If things really were like that, then he was in serious trouble. Because he held Li Wu, he might not only have to face Li Xiangyang and the sect behind Li Wu, but also all those people trying to seize invitations to the Boxing King Tournament.
Moreover, why did Elder Tu from the Ancient Martial Artists Association give him an invitation to the Boxing King Tournament? Was it simply out of kindness? Before this, he might have believed that. Now he no longer thought so.
From all the signs, the Ancient Martial Artists Association was clearly not the organiser of this Boxing King Tournament. If it were, there would be no need for such complicated arrangements. With the influence of the Ancient Martial Artists Association, the tournament could have been run far more easily.
Furthermore, even if the association were behind it, Elder Tu giving him an invitation was probably not just because he valued him. After all, he and Elder Tu had no family or personal ties, and when he first received the invitation, his strength was still very weak. On what basis did Elder Tu value him?
The invitation to the Boxing King Tournament was such an important item. Why give it to him? Did the Ancient Martial Artists Association have too many invitations?
That was obviously impossible. No one would ever complain about having too many invitations, and the association was surely the same.
So what was Elder Tu’s real reason? What was his purpose in giving him the invitation? This was not Li Feng judging a gentleman with a petty heart. The matter was far too important. Until he understood the reason, he had to suspect everyone.
Even more crucially, what was the true purpose of the organisers issuing only one hundred and eight invitations? Was it simply to make the various forces rob and kill each other? Why would the organisers want the forces to slaughter one another? Although huge interests were involved because of the Nine Dragon Jade, the people in these forces were not fools. They could not possibly fail to see through such a massive scheme.
“Yes, it is a grand scheme. But even if someone truly realises it is a scheme, no one can resist this kind of temptation.” Nangong Wu nodded. He glanced at Li Feng and said, “Young Master Feng, have you ever heard this saying?”
“What saying?” Li Feng asked.
“When the Dragon Jade appears, a thousand mechanisms emerge, and the world falls into chaos…” Nangong Wu said.
“When the Dragon Jade appears, a thousand mechanisms emerge, and the world falls into chaos…” Li Feng raised an eyebrow. This was the second time he had heard this phrase. The first time was from Ge Feng’s mouth, and now from Nangong Wu’s.
But what did it mean? He knew about the Dragon Jade, but what were these thousand mechanisms?
“Correct. That is the phrase. The Dragon Jade is the key to opening the Gate of a Thousand Mechanisms.” Nangong Wu nodded and said gravely, “The Nine Dragon Jade is the Dragon Jade. It refers to nine pieces of Dragon Jade. Only by gathering all nine pieces can the Gate of a Thousand Mechanisms be opened.”
“Gate of a Thousand Mechanisms? What is that? Is it some kind of secret realm? Or a forbidden land?” Li Feng recalled that when Zhong Shuhui came to Tianhai City, she once told him that Li Chuanwei had asked him to stop Li Wu from obtaining the Nine Dragon Jade and said the Nine Dragon Jade was some kind of key. Could Li Chuanwei have meant that the Nine Dragon Jade was the key to this Gate of a Thousand Mechanisms?
“I do not know about that.” Nangong Wu shook his head.
“You do not know?” Li Feng was stunned. Nangong Wu was the Third Master of the Nangong family, yet even he did not know what the Gate of a Thousand Mechanisms was.
“Yes. Only the ancestors of truly colossal forces know about the Gate of a Thousand Mechanisms. Even the Great Elder of our Nangong family has no idea what it is.” Nangong Wu nodded.
“Ancestors of colossal forces?” Li Feng was taken aback. He asked, “Does your Nangong family not have such an ancestor?”
“Young Master Feng, do you know what truly counts as a colossal force?” Nangong Wu asked in return.
“This…” Li Feng paused. He had been about to say top families, but Nangong Wu’s question made it clear that top families were probably not enough.
As expected, Nangong Wu said gravely, “In China, top families cannot yet be considered colossal forces. Even our twelve great families do not qualify as colossal forces.”
“Then what does qualify as a colossal force?” Li Feng asked.
“Those that can be called colossal forces include the Ancient Martial Artists Association, the Imperial Alliance, the Holy See of Light in Europe, the Dark Church, the Brahmanism…” Nangong Wu answered.
“These.” Li Feng’s pupils contracted. He did not know much about the Imperial Alliance or the Holy See of Light, but he had some understanding of the Ancient Martial Artists Association. He just never imagined that only forces of that level counted as colossal.
At this thought, Li Feng could not help but give a bitter smile. So the so-called top families were not truly top at all. That title was merely relative to ordinary forces. Compared to the Ancient Martial Artists Association, the Li family could not even catch up by running.
“Correct. And what I mentioned is only a portion. There are some forces that even I do not know about. They usually stay hidden and do not show themselves, yet they are the real behemoths.” Nangong Wu nodded and said.
“It seems I have underestimated the people of the world.” A sharp glint flashed in Li Feng’s eyes. If Nangong Wu had not told him this now, he would never have known there were so many colossal forces, nor would he have realised that the Li family, which called itself a top family, was nothing in front of these powers.
However, after learning about so many colossal forces, Li Feng did not feel worried, afraid or fearful. Instead, a strong fighting spirit rose within him. With so many colossal forces out there, he believed his future would not be lonely.
“It seems these forces are the strongest competitors for the Nine Dragon Jade.” Li Feng said in a deep voice.
“Exactly, they are the ones. So Young Master Feng, it is fine if you do not obtain the Nine Dragon Jade this time. If you do obtain it, that will be real trouble. In the eyes of those forces, people from our families are simply too weak.” Nangong Wu nodded and said.
Li Feng took a deep breath. He had never expected the Boxing King Tournament to be so complicated. It seemed he had thought things too simply before.
“Third Master, you mentioned earlier that there are fierce beasts and even demonic beasts on the island where the Boxing King Tournament is held. You also said that because of the array, only those below the Innate realm can enter. But let alone demonic beasts, even if there is an Innate realm fierce beast, those of us below the Innate realm would be walking to our deaths if we go in.” Li Feng said.
“So we can only hope we do not encounter any Innate realm fierce beasts.” Nangong Wu nodded and said.
Li Feng’s expression changed. He had thought Nangong Wu would say there was an array on the island that prevented fierce beasts from exceeding the Innate realm. Now it seemed he had overthought it.
“Then Third Master, how many people can one invitation letter bring inside?” Li Feng asked a key question.
“Maximum ten people, minimum two people.” Nangong Wu replied.
Li Feng was stunned. Maximum ten made sense, but what did minimum two mean?
Seeing Li Feng’s confusion, Nangong Wu gave a mysterious smile and said, “You will understand that point when the time comes, Young Master Feng. But for now, the most important thing for you is to protect the invitation you hold. Although you are the young master of the Li family, if those people want to seize the invitation, they will not care about your status.”
Li Feng nodded. Nangong Wu was right. Since others wanted to rob the invitation, they would not care about anyone’s identity. Moreover, from what Nangong Wu had said earlier, his status meant nothing in front of those great forces.
But…
A sharp glint flashed in Li Feng’s eyes. This might actually be an opportunity for him.
“Young Master Feng, Xin’er holds one invitation. I will leave the task of protecting it to you.” Nangong Wu said with a sly smile.
